ABSTRACT
On 30 September 2009, news arrived that a Shuar bilingual schoolteacher, Bosco Wizuma, had been killed in a clash with the police in his native province of Morona Santiago. This was during a protest demonstration against a proposed new water law, which would have severe impacts on the southern region of Ecuador, and particularly the Cordillera del Cóndor (Condor Mountain Range). Following the incident, the government attempted to shut down the Shuar radio station Arutam for allegedly inciting civil disobedience — a move that was successfully blocked by human rights organizations. Such episodes of extreme violence are less frequent in Ecuador than in Peru or Colombia. This is one of the reasons to look more closely at the background to this incident.
